White balance settings?

[Tintype_18]

Couldn't find the dog show photo. Someone edited it with proper WB. Is there a rule of thumb for setting WB or set to Auto? I had used the shade icon as the exhibition center is shaded but open sides and artificial lighting.

[kvbarkley]

The rule is to set it for the lighting you have. Mixed lighting is the toughest.

Most here will say to shoot raw and fix it in post. I usually use Auto and forget about it, and I shoot jpegs.

[rs-eos]

Shooting in RAW will not bake in any white balance.  Thus, you can freely edit it in post.

I still try to get within the ballpark though as the current white balance setting _will be used_ for JPEG (which is used for the back-of-camera preview too).

For light from a single source (or predominantly from a single source), I use the presets (tungsten, daylight, shade, etc.).

For mixed lighting, I'll use a custom white balance,

For ultimate control, when capturing proper color is critical, I will use a color chart.  Personally I use a Datacolor SpyderCHECKR Color Chart.   For each set of images under the same lighting, I'll capture one image with the chart.  I use Lightroom and there's a post workflow I use that creates a custom profile from the captured color chart.  I then apply that to all the other images in that "set".  Where "set" refers to a group of images all captured under the same lighting conditions.

[Tintype_18]

Ricky, where is the colot chart available? i find this interesting.

[rs-eos]

I got mine at B&H Photo.  Another popular brand is x-rite.

[FloridaDrafter]

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@rs-eos wrote:

I got mine at B&H Photo.  Another popular brand is x-rite.

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I used to use ColorMonki before X-rite got it. But it seems like when I used it, it was Color Monkey, but it's been a while and could be a totally different program. I worked, for a while, as a graphic artist making logos and brochures for project solicitation. I worked with CorelDraw and Adobe Illustrator.

Newton

[kvbarkley]

Isn't Color-Munki a display proffiling system? That is not what we are talking about here. We are refering to portable color / white-balance standards that you can take to the field to give yourself a reference you can use during post.

[FloridaDrafter]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

Isn't Color-Munki a display proffiling system? That is not what we are talking about here. We are refering to portable color / white-balance standards that you can take to the field to give yourself a reference you can use during post.

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I used it to create profiles for all three of my monitors (I used three 21" CRT's) and our Epson large format printers 17" and 42" roll). The version that I used had color and gray cards to use as a reference in the field or studio. I never used the feature, but you could integrate it with PS.

But you are correct, that isn't what the OP first asked, but later showed interest in. He already had/has the best advice, which, IMO, is to set Auto in camera and if need be, adjust in post. But, I shoot Raw so I am biased.

[ebiggs1]

"I used to use ColorMonki before X-rite got it"

You do not need a calibrated monitor in most cases. Certainly not a hobbyists but perhaps a hobbyist is the most demanding. Who knows?

Your monitor does need to have two things adjusted to do photography. Its grey scale needs to be correct and its contrast/brightness needs to be correct.

Most people have the brightness set too high. That makes judging photos more difficult.

[kvbarkley]

There is also the Whibal.